Monday, October 24, 2011

They say smell is the sense most closely linked to memory recall, and that was certainly the case while making these garlicky, buttery bay scallops on toast. As waves of the wonderful aromas wafted up from the pan, they brought back a flood of vivid memories of my first real kitchen job.

Barely a teenager, I was hired as a dishwasher at an Italian steakhouse, called The Depot (pictured below is the train station that predated the restaurant). While it was fun being inside a bustling kitchen, washing dishes was anything but. By comparison, what I saw the line cooks doing looked like the greatest job ever, and this certainly played a role in my future career plans.

Anyway, there was a scallop dish on the menu, which consisted of 6 large scallops being placed in a small metal broiler plate, seasoned with salt and pepper, and then doused with wine, lemon, garlic, and butter. This was placed under the flame until the scallops were browned, and the sauce was bubbling below. It was finished with fresh parsley, and served with toasted Italian bread for dipping into the amazing juices.

The smell of that sizzling plate as it went by my station was almost too much to take, and once in a while, thanks to some kind of ordering mishap, I’d actually get to eat one. It was pure bliss, and a flavor combination I still love to this day.

By the way, unlike the large day-boat scallops you’re seen me cook before, these are way too small to worry about searing brown. In a restaurant kitchen, if we’re just cooking a couple ounces, we could get a decent sear and still finish the sauce without overcooking. But doing this many at home, all we really need to concentrate on, is not over cooking them. Besides, bay scallops are so naturally sweet, tender, and delicious, the sear is not as important as with the larger ones.

As I mention in the video, this makes a beautiful appetizer, but will also make a killer pasta sauce with some cream added in to stretch it. I hope you can find some small, wild scallops soon (frozen are great, as long as “Scallops” is the only ingredient listed on the bag), and give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4-6 appetizer size portions:

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 pound bay scallops

4-5 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup white wine (NOT cooking wine)

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

4 tbsp cold butter, cubed

cayenne, salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

buttered and toasted Italian bread slices

*Note for pasta sauce, add a 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream with the wine, and proceed as shown. Should make enough sauce for about 4 portions of pasta)

Chef all scallops (sea, bay) come in dry or in brine.I personally dislike the brined scallops very much, but very much love me some U5 American Dry Sea Scallops (Mass, Vermont area). The brine is famous for Far-Eastern Scallops (although you can buy Far-east Scallops that are dry as well, or local scallops with brine), a lot of time the brine is spiked with chemicals so that the scallops retain more water and they appear much larger than they actually are (thats why you see shrimps and scallops shrink in size once hitting the heat).

Hey Chef John. Question about the hot hot hot olive oil. I've always been told that you never heat olive oil past a certain temperature (where it smokes), or it will become carcinogenic. Why didn't you choose ghee or refined coconut oil?

I wanted the flavor of olive oil, and I'm not concerned whatsoever about carcinogens. First of all, you add it as soon as you see the first wisp of smoke, you don't let it continue to smoke and burn. Also, the amount of carcinogens from this is probably like 100 times less than a single charbroiled burger or steak. Relax.

Hey chef just wanted to say that I'm a HUGE fan of your site! Anyway I was planning on making these tomorrow for dinner but I'm worried that I won't be able to find these small bay scallops in my store. I live in a small town in Indiana and where I live we don't even have a famers market :( do you think I could find them at Marsh?

UPDATE: I went to my local grocery sotre and they suprisingly did have frozen bay scallops. So I made them for dinner as an appetizer along with a chicken breast I made, your creamed spinach, and your dark chocolate mousse. Needless to say everything was amazing and all of my family loved it! Thanks again for the great recipes! :)

Chef John, you stated that when you want to make this a pasta sauce, to add the scallops at the end, after boiling the cream, but you never have the sauce without the scallops in it. Do you take them out and then add your cream and put them back in?